Machine for excavating turf.



0. ZELENAY.

MACHINE FOR EXGAVATING TURF.

APPLICATION FILED APB.26, 1912.

41 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR r A OR THE NORRIS PETERS CO..PHOTO1LITHO.. WASHINGTON D. c

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

C. ZELENAY. MACHINE FOR EXGAVATING TURF. APPLICATION FILED APR.2G, 1912.

1, 11 3,277 Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. WITNESSES: VINVENTOR AT RN THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOIO-LITHQ. WASHINGwN. D. C.

-&

C. ZELENAY.

MACHINE FOR EXGAVATING TURF.

APPLICATION FILED nmze, 1912.

1,1 1 3,277. Patented Oct. 13, 19M

4 SHBETS SHEBT 3 WITNESSES: INVENTOR- ATTORNEY rHE NORRIS PETERS CO PHOTOL! THO.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. ZELENAY. MACHINE FOR EXGAVATING TURF.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1912.

Patented Oct. 3

1 1914. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSEL .gma /w (2M UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' cousrnivrnvn ZELEIN'AY, or rvnn, RUSSIA.

To all whom it may concern: I l

Be it known that I, CoNsTAN'rINn ZELENAY, sub ect of the Emperor of Russla, resldlng fat Tver, Russia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Excavating Turf, of vwhich the following'is" a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved combination machine for cutting peat from a drained peat hog and treating the cut peat.

With this object the machine is mounted on a carriage ad'apted'to travel on a railway along the peat trench while the cutting devices can be moved sidewise to a certain extent. a

The improved machine consists substantially of a tubular cutting apparatus pro vided at its lower end with an apparatus for loosening and cutting up the peat which is lifted by a worm conveyer and conveyed to a mixing apparatus.

One construction of the improved machin is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of the machine.- Fig. 2 is an elevation of the cutting apparatus partly in section. Fig. 3 is a plan of the improved machine. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the improved machine. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively sectional views on the lines AA and 13-13 of Fig. 8; Figs. '7

and 8 are respectively a'bottom view anda plan of the apparatus for loosening the peat,

a railway 2 alongthe peat trench by means of a Windlass 3 and two chain drives 4 and 5. This carriage carries a railway composed of two cross-beams 6 along which the movable framing 7 moves which carries the actual peat cutting apparatus and is moved by hand by means of the operating mechanism 8. For the purpose of maintaining the equilibrium of the machine during the travel of the frame 7 the latter carries a traveling counterweight 50 which is shifted by means of ropes 51 passing around the guide pulleys 52 and 53 andattached to the framing and counterweight in such a manner that the said framing and counterweight are simultaneously caused to move toward or away from the carriage 1.

The peat cutting apparatus (Figs. 1, 2 and Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d O Application fi1ed April 26, 1912. Serial No. 693,419. I Q

. MACHINE, non EXCAVATING TURF.

3) consists of the loosening device 9 the screw conveyer 11 arranged inside the tube 10. The tube10 is fixed to the plate} 12 which also serves to carry the electric motor 13, the footstep bearings 14 and 15 of the loosening device and screw, the gearetc. The plate 12 is suspended by means of a rope 19 and pulleys 16 and 17 and is adapted-to be drawn up and down together with the tube 10 and windlass l8h I The peat is cut from the peat bog in rows in the longitudinal and transverse directions.

. lVhen a transverse row has been cut, the machine, is shifted by means of the Windlass 3 throughan equal distance to the diameter of the tube. The length of the tube 10 depends.

on the depth of the bed of peat being cut. Inside, the tube 10 2) is a shaft 20 on which the loosening device 9 is fixed. The

r the devices mounted onit by means of the shaft 20 is surrounded by a second hollow shaft 21 which is provided with a conveyer screw 11. To the lower end of the tube 10 is fixed a cross-piece 22 (Fig. 5) in which are provided three ball bearings 23, 24 and I 25 for the shafts 20 and 21.

The loosening device 9 consists of a truncated conical member containing two diametrically staggered partitions 26 with screw or helical surfaces, or their equivalentitwo helical apertures or passages 27 The lower edges of the apertures 27 are provided with broad fiat cutters 28 which cut the peat or cut spirally into hard bodies such as old tree stumps. The shaft 20 with the loosening device is rotated at a high speed so that the cut peat is caused by its momentum to enter the loosening device 9 and pass upward along the passage.

In order that the cut-peat shall be eifeo.

tively caught the underside ofthe loosening device is made conical so that any pieces of peat fiyingoff under centrifugal action will be yet caught by the passages 27. For this purpose also the cutting edge of the cutter 28 p is set at an angle to the radius. In order to prevent wear of the upper edges of the cross-partitions 26, the upper surface of the loosening device 9 is covered with a correspondingly recessed plate 29 of hardened steel so that this plate forms together with the arms of the cross-piece 22 a second cutting device. The outeredges of the cutters 28 extend beyond the lower diameter of the loosening device for the purpose of preventing the loosening device from being braked.

ters 49 are fixed to the lower edge of the.

same in front of the cutters 28, for the purpose of preventlng the accumulation of peat, stones or splinters at this part.

In the drawings (Figs. 5 to 8) a loosening device is shown by way of example with two passages, but the number of such pas- "sages may be increased to suit the section:

of the loosening device and the particular nature of the kind of peat being cut. The

loosened peat moving up in the tube 10-is then received by the conveyer screw 11 fixed on the shaft 21 and is conveyed to the top where it falls through the enlarged opening 5st of the tube 10 into a chute and thence to a conveyer belt 31. The shafts 20 and 21 receive their motion by means of toothed wheels from the electric motor 13. The peat is delivered by the conveyer belt 31 into a suitable mixing apparatus whlch serves to mix it intimately.

Having now partlcularly descrlbed and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,I declare that what I claim 1s:

1. In a peat cutting and treating machine, in combination, a vertical tube, a hollow shaft therein carrying a conveyer screw, a shaft extending through said hollow shaft, both of said shafts being vertical, the lower end of said second shaft extending below the-lower end of said first shaft, a screwlike cutting devicecarried by the lower end of said second shaft to cut the peat and to deliver it into said tube, said cutting device consisting of a truncated conical member having a plurality of helical passages there through, and having cutters at the lower edges of said openings, a motor, and gearing operatively connecting said motor with said shafts whereby the latter are driven by the former.

2. In a peat cutting and treating machine, in combination, a vertical tube, a hollow shaft therein carrying a conveyer screw, a shaft extending through said hollow shaft, both of said shafts being vertical, the lower end of said second shaft extending below the lower end of said first shaft, a screwlike cutting device carried by the lower end of said second shaft to cut the peat andto deliver it into said tube, said cutting device consisting of a truncated conical member having a plurality of helical passages therethrough, and having cutters at the lower edges of said openings, said cutters extending beyond the lower piece of said member, said member carrying a drill to facilitate the vertical movement of the cutting device, a motor, and gearing operatively connecting said motor with said shafts whereby the latter are driven by the former.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CONSTA NTINE ZELENAY. \Vitnesses RIPLEY WILSON, STEFAN VVonKosn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

